How do I contact the judge and tell him I can't work with my lawyer? 8 Answers as of March 06, 2013

My case continues for 10 years and no one will take the case. The lawyer smokes pot, is aggressive and rude and doesn't communicate until 9 or 10 pm the night before we are to go into court, then tells me to prepare items for him. He has now said he will only take phone calls rather than emails or texts, I am sure because they show the errors such as him not following through on issues, and wrong dates to be at court. I need to know when to show up for court to wrap this up, but he is erratic.

You can't just call or write the judge about your lawyer, but you can get a new lawyer to take over the case. Your new lawyer will prepare a substitution of attorney form to be signed by the three of you and will file it with the court and get your files from your present lawyer. If you don't get a good lawyer to help you, you might not get much help from this one.

The judge will not speak with you since you are still represented by an attorney; judges do not speak to the parties in a lawsuit. You have to try to find an attorney who will speak with you so that a neutral party can decide what needs to be done. Cases rarely are allowed to go on for such a length of time. Go to your local bar association, legal aid if you qualify, etc.

One wonders how an injury case could drag on for 10 years. Something is wrong with this picture. The judge will likely not pay attention to any communications from you. You need to talk to another lawyer. Contact your local Bar Association (such as Los Angeles County Bar Assn.) and ask for a referral to a lawyer in the appropriate field.

10 years sounds like a long time for a case to be in Court. You don't contact the Judge directly. You can simply fire your lawyer and file a substitution of attorney form naming yourself as your own lawyer, acting "in pro per." Hopefully you'll be able to get another attorney to take the place of this attorney. Your current lawyer will have to agree with being substituted out and sign the form you file. If he refuses, you will have to make a motion to have him removed.

If you want to remove the lawyer from your case, you will have to file a "notice of dismissal" and sign it and file it with the court system. Then you will have to substitute yourself into the case as "in propia persona" (ie. representing yourself). If you have another attorney who will represent you, the new attorney will have to file a "substitution of attorney" form.

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